Experimentation
by Little Agr0n
Summary: FABERRY WEEK SUMMER 2k15 Quinn and Rachel are paired together for two classes in one day. Quinn isn't best pleased.


_i'm sorry guys.. i'm still a bit behind on the days. i'm planning to catch up tomorrow!_

 _i hope you enjoyyyy :*_

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Quinn sat in AP chemistry fiddling her pencil between her fingers. This was their second period learning about enthalpy of combustion and, to be frank, she really couldn't care less. Her education was important to her, yes. But this was just so boring and her teacher, who would probably be retiring in a year or so, kept throwing her arms down to the ground, repeating "Enthalpy of combustion! It burns down to the ground!" Hoping that her students would remember that drawing arrows pointing down would help them remember to do reactants minus products when working out enthalpy of combustion. But no. It just made all her students roll their eyes and wish more for the end of the lesson. A far better way to remember, Quinn thought, was to think of how _crap_ the lesson was. Combustion = Reactants – Products. Crp was enough like crap for it to work.

Just when the cheerleader thought the lesson couldn't get any worse, Mrs Harrison, came out with the worst idea. Even worse than her dramatic hand movements. "I'm going to pair you up for an experiment now. Then, out of school time I want you to both work out the enthalpy of combustion of methanol and study the topic further at home."

Quinn winced. This was never going to end well.

"Quinn Fabray!" Mrs Harrison called out. "You will be paired with Rachel Berry."

Quinn groaned. Loudly. Even Rachel cringed at the choice. There was no way they'd be able to convince their teacher to change her mind so the blonde removed her bag from the seat next to her for Rachel to sit on. Quinn wasn't moving.

Once everything had been explained, Quinn looked to Rachel and instructed her through gritted teeth. "Look, Berry, this isn't what either of us are wanting so we'll do the experiment in silence. Then I'll come to yours for the independent study for as _little_ time as possible. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Rachel nodded, glad for the silence. If neither of them spoke, it meant that insults wouldn't be hurled at her every other minute. For that, she was grateful.

Thankfully it was a fairly short experiment and within the fifteen minutes or so before the bell they'd set up, taken three results of methanol heating up water and cleared up. Next up was glee club. Another hour for the sworn enemies to spend time together. Hurrah. Luckily, they could sit at opposite ends of the room this lesson.

Unfortunately, it seemed fate had brought together Quinn and Rachel on this day as Mr Schuester had planned a lesson equally awful as AP Chemistry. Perhaps even worse. An amazing idea had apparently come to him in the middle of the night last night. Quinn thought it was a miracle that the lesson had been planned that much in advance. Most of the time, it seemed as though he might as well have thrown the lesson plan together the very same day. Today the theme was "experimentation" in which he coupled together unlikely pairs to duet. So, of course, Quinn had been put with none other than Rachel Berry for the second time that day. They were given the choice of working on it in glee club or at home. Quinn begrudgingly suggested to Rachel that they go to her's. That way they could do their chemistry and glee assignment in one. The brunette agreed and the pair left to go the Berry household.

Rachel led the way in her car with Quinn following behind, silently willing the day to be over. Her bullying of the tiny diva was a defense mechanism to hide from her parents' own hatred of homosexuality. It was quite possibly the most cliché part of her life. Apart from being the head cheerleader and previously dating the star quarterback. This was going to be a disaster. Being honest, Quinn wasn't paying much attention to Rachel's driving. Besides, the blonde knew her way. It wasn't that she'd actively seeked out to find out where the brunette lived. But when she was pregnant, and for a time after, she found comfort in wandering or driving around during dusk and sometimes throughout the night. On one of those walks while pregnant, Quinn had ended up in Rachel's neighbourhood. Rachel's window had been open and the blonde could hear her singing from where she was outside. Her unborn child, who had previously been restless and fidgety, stilled immediately. Over the next few weeks, Quinn had found that Rachel's voice had the same effect on Beth during glee club. And so, on evenings when Beth was particularly restless, Quinn found herself walking the many blocks to Rachel's neighbourhood so that the singing from the brunette, which seemed to be a constant happening, could calm her child so that Quinn could get a decent night's rest.

When she parked outside the Berry house, Quinn felt a wave of guilt for her previous times at that house but she suppressed them, hoping they would never arise again. It was an empty hope.

The maths side of the chemistry, which was thankfully all they had to do, only took them half an hour as they poured over textbooks in Rachel's kitchen in silence. Next was their glee project.

"Do you want to head upstairs?" Rachel suggested. "My room's sound proof so we can practice as much as we need."

Quinn closed her eyes to push away other reasons why a sound proof bedroom would be helpful. Those kinds of thoughts weren't going to help anyone. "Sure." Quinn shrugged and followed Rachel to her room. Her jaw dropped at her first sight. It was surprisingly un-Rachel Berry. Okay, so it was a little bit bright, but nothing was outrageous. "Not as bad as I thought it would be, Berry."

That was _almost_ as good as it was going to get so Rachel decided to take it as a compliment. "Thank you." She beamed. "So. We have to make this resemble our relationship in some way?"

"Mhmm." Quinn nodded. "Do you have any of ideas?"

"I do!" Rachel flashed Quinn yet another award winning smile.

 _Of course she does._ Quinn thought. _When didn't Rachel have an idea when it came to glee? Or anything._

The brunette bit her lip. "You may well hate me for suggesting this but I feel like the song suits us well."

"Spit it out, then." Quinn gritted her teeth, not wanting Rachel to see her softer side that always became more vulnerable when Rachel appeared nervous or unsure of herself. Thankfully that rarely happened.

"It's _You Belong With Me._ " Rachel said quickly. "By Taylor Swift."

"I know who sings it." Quinn mashed her lips together. She wanted nothing more than to criticise Rachel's choice but with their fighting over Finn and with who was with him at the moment, it seemed like the ideal choice. "Okay."

"Okay?" Rachel echoed. She hadn't expected Quinn to agree so readily.

"Okay." Quinn let a small smile tug at her lips. "Just so long as I have some say in things."

"Deal." Rachel answered, without thought, and stuck her hand out.

Quinn rolled her eyes and shook the brunette's hand. This evening could either be the best or the worst of her life.

A good few hours later and the pair had got down what parts each of them would sing and a slight dance routine to go with the song. It was a surprisingly pain-free evening for the both of them. They were going through the song once more, laughing as they sang. They were both getting really into the song and, as Quinn sang "have you ever thought that just maybe, you belong with me" The two got closer together as they danced. Quinn breathed out a last "You belong with me." Her eyes flicked from Rachel's eyes to Rachel's lips. Quinn froze. She swore under her breath and ran out of the Berry house to drive straight home.

She had ruined a perfectly good evening. Why, why, _why_ had she let herself do that. Her feelings for Rachel had to be hidden and should never be open for everyone to see. When she arrived at home, she fired off a quick text to Rachel that said _We'll do the song in glee club tomorrow._

Within a matter of seconds, Rachel had replied confirming that she was fine with that (not that Quinn had given her a choice there, though) and asked if the blonde was okay. Quinn just sent a quick _Yes_ back to her and put her phone on charge for the evening. She needed to forget about what had happened. After tomorrow, she'd never have to sing it again and the cheerleader could go back to ignoring Rachel. Quinn couldn't wait.

The following day, Quinn did all she could to avoid Rachel. If she saw her in the corridors, she'd slip into an empty classroom or bathroom. She ignored all her texts. In the cafeteria she made sure not to make eye contact. It was all going well until a few moments before glee when Rachel sneaked up behind her and pulled her aside.

"What do you want, shortstack?" Quinn asked, clearly not bothered with whatever answer Rachel would give.

"Why did you leave so quickly yesterday?" The brunette had a look in her eyes that told Quinn that she wasn't getting away without a reasonable answer.

"Wasn't it clear?" Quinn stalled for time, trying to come up with an acceptable answer for why she'd left so early and so quickly.

"Obviously not." Rachel fought the urge to roll her eyes. Why couldn't Quinn just give her a straight answer?!

Quinn realised that Rachel actually had no idea that the reason she bolted was because she almost kissed her. A wave of relief flooded over her. "I remembered that I had to pick my dad up from the train station." The lie easily slipped out.

"You could have said something." Rachel's face turned from worried to a beaming smile in an instant. She hoped it would be enough to put the blonde at ease. "Not to worry though." She led off to the classroom. "Come on then, Quinn. We have a show to do."

And so Quinn begrudgingly followed Rachel into the choir room. By the time she got through the door, Mr Schuester had agreed to let them perform and kick off this week's assignment.

Quinn gritted her teeth and set her jaw, determined she would get through this song without incident. She would keep herself at a safe distance from Rachel and all would be well.

However, Quinn forgot a very important factor in her performance. Rachel. She hadn't forgotten, per say. She'd just not realised that no matter how much Quinn could control her own movements, she couldn't control Rachel's. And so, as they sung _You Belong With Me,_ their choreography very much resembled the previous night's. In that they were dancing incredibly close. No matter how much Quinn tried to step away, Rachel would make up the distance the following step. It was frustrating and incredibly distracting. Two thirds of the way through their song, Quinn gave up trying to stop getting too close to Rachel and just let herself enjoy it.

There were very few times that Quinn Fabray allowed herself to be herself and there were even more seldom times when she allowed anyone to see it happen. Normally it was when she was alone in her room as she listened to music or read a book or when she took herself out with her camera. Yet here she was being herself and singing with Rachel Berry. In front of the entire glee club no less.

Quinn was jolted back into her shell when the music came to an end. Her and Rachel were face to face just like the previous night. As if pulled by gravity, Quinn's eyes were drawn to Rachel's lips. She willed her eyes to flick upwards to meet Rachel's eyes. There was a fraction of a second's delay before Rachel's eyes met Quinn's. When Rachel looked up from Quinn's lips, the blonde bolted, leaving Rachel stood in front of a silent glee club.

Out of the silence came slow loud claps from Mr Schuester. The rest of the club joined in with the clapped hesitantly, unsure if they really had seen the two enemies close to kissing. "That was amazing." He complimented. "You guys should do that again, you looked like you had a great time!" Mr Schuester seemed to be completely oblivious to what everyone else had witnessed. He had a grin on his face. It conveyed look of self-pride. It seemed that he thought his plan had worked and he'd put two enemies together and they had become friends because of it.

In an action which seemed almost foreign for Rachel to do, she ignored the comment and walked away in the opposite direction, into the corridor. She knew where Quinn would be. The bathroom.

Rachel's light jog had taken her breath away from her and so she entered the girls bathroom slightly short of breath.

"Go away." Quinn called from the only locked stall.

"I'm not leaving until you come out and I know you're okay." Rachel crossed her arms and stomped her foot.

"Did you really just stomp your foot?"

Rachel didn't reply.

"Judging by that you probably did." Quinn gave a humourless laugh. "You've probably crossed your arms too."

Quinn was met with more silence.

"I knew it." She paused for a moment. "Asking me to come out is a bit much, don't you think -" Rachel dropped her jaw. "It's just a turn of phrase."

"I know." Quinn answered quietly.

"This would be a lot easier if you opened the door." Rachel said as she sat herself with her back against the closed toilet door.

The blonde snorted. "When have I ever made things easier for anyone?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You could always start now"

"You need to move first. Or you'll fall when I open the door." Quinn remarked.

The brunette shuffled away from the door and stood up so that Quinn could open it. When there was no sign of the door being opened, she spoke up. "Aren't you going to open it then?"

"I never said _when_ I'd open it." Though Rachel couldn't see her, she could tell that Quinn was smirking.

Rachel groaned. "Are you always this difficult?"

"Do you like it when I'm difficult?" Quinn teased.

The diva facepalmed. "Quiiiinnnnn." She moaned. "I'm trying to help you here."

"I know." Quinn's voice was small. "I'm sorry. It's a defense mechanism." The blonde slowly came out of the door. "I didn't mean to- I just-"

"I know." Rachel smiled encouragingly. "It's okay."

"No it's not." The blonde looked down at her shoes.

"It is." Rachel's voice was firm.

"No." Quinn's reply was equally as firm. "To start with, you're with Finn anyway. And I can't be-"

"You can be whoever you want, Quinn." Rachel offered her hands out to Quinn to hold. When they were holding hands and Quinn was looking at her, Rachel began to speak once more. "It's okay. Just know, to yourself, that you're you. Until you're comfortable, no-one else needs to know. But if you need someone to talk to, although I'll probably be your last choice, I'm here. You'll be fine." Then she sighed. "And about Finn.. I was thinking about breaking up with him anyway."

"Thank you." Quinn breathed. She wasn't sure if Rachel had heard her. Especially after Rachel dropped her hands. The lack of contact, made her look at the brunette, to search for a reason why she'd let go. She soon got an answer.

Rachel lifted a slightly shaking hand and lifted Quinn's chin up. She leaned up on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and softly pressed their lips together. It only lasted a moment. Then Rachel was back down on the flats of her feet. "I'll let you think about things." She smiled up at Quinn. "Text me if you want to talk."

Quinn made no attempt to stop Rachel from leaving. She was too shocked. But she definitely knew what she needed to do.

Two hours later and Rachel was lying on her bed, reading a book when she heard her phone signal a text. It was from Quinn. _Hi, I think I'd like to talk to someone. We could make it easier with a movie at mine if you want? My parents aren't home on Friday if you're around. Qx_

Rachel smiled at her phone. _Is that a date? x_

Just moments later another text came through. _Depends. Do you want it to be? Are you still with Finn? Qx_

 _I broke up with him after glee. So is it a date then? x_ Rachel fired back quickly.

 _Maybe next time it could be a date. Have a good night, Berry. Qx_

Rachel replied quickly before returning back to her book. _You have a good evening too x_

Rachel was happy. She'd helped Quinn and she couldn't wait to see where things would go from there.

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 _thank you so much for reading! it means a lot :)_


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